I wasn’t alive in the 80’s but I always get told that everyone used to mix sit together and just mix in general with absolutely no bitterness or hatred between the two sets of fans. I guess that’s because were good in the 80s?
It must be down to pure jealousy an envy. To be honest I would hate to be in their position. Everytime we win something and get into finals, the parades etc. Not sure what I’d do, I was a baby the last time they won anything. But I definitely wouldn’t carry on like the way their fans do.
I don't think the relationship between the fanbases was good in the 80s because both sides were good. It was good because that was the culture in this city at the time. Everton were garbage in the 70s and in the early 80s they campaigned to have Howard Kendall sacked. They painted "Kendall Out" on the garage of his house. We were in our pomp back then but the hatred was simply not there. We are blood in this city, and we backed each other. Fierce rivalry? Yes. But the kind of mind numbingly stupid hatred of today? No way.
They improved massively as the 80s went on and became competitive. They, for a short time, had a great side. We never hated them for it.
The whole Heysel scapegoating thing never even reared its head until into the 90s. Blues at the time knew what happened there. They even had some of their own at Heysel themselves. Check out the writings of County Road Stanley knifer and hooligan book author Andy Nicholls for confirmation of that.
The reality is that Everton finally worked hard under Kendall and got it right from about '84 onwards, but instead of consolidating on their success they thought they'd done the hard bit and could rest on their laurels. They basically got complacent, and all they built evaporated before their eyes. It was too much to take for many of them. The most successful period in their entire history had come and gone.
Rather than take personal responsibility and knuckle down on the task of rebuilding again they basically went into victim mode and sought scapegoats. Heysel suddenly became that convenient scapegoat. Someone else to blame so they didn't have to look at themselves and admit their mistakes. Yes, they used the deaths of 39 human beings in order to deflect from their own failings.
Unfortunately, this scapegoating, dodging of responsibility and victim status have become part of the fabric of Everton culture for far too many of them. The younger breed don't even bother to fact check. They just run with the twisted, perverted narrative peddled by lazy arseholes.
I'm sorry, but I just don't buy the idea that they are so twisted because it's hard to watch us being successful. If that's the case they need to get a grip and employ some of this class and dignity they drone on and on about. They need to grow the fuck up and stop acting like babies who can't get their way. If they want success of their own they need to stop obsessing about us. They need to look inside themselves, work their arses off and earn it.
Look at all the clubs that have won trophies since 1995. So many are nowhere near the size of Everton, yet they worked hard, took responsibility and got some reward for it too. Everton? Well they'd rather play the downtrodden victim and blame all but themselves for being abject on the pitch and commercially. They also blame us for their appalling behaviour too. This inability to take even a tiny slice of personal responsibility really screws their club and fanbase up. They've basically disappeared down a willingly entered rabbit hole that they now seem unable to back out of.
They had what they craved for a fair portion of the 80s, but their own complacency, lack of planning and failure to adapt meant the period of success was never going to last. As the 90s took shape they realized they'd fucked it up, and rather than take responsibility they went for the weak, easy route of scapegoating. Here we all are in 2022 suffering as a footballing city due to that decision. When you go down that road it leads to resentment and bitterness which, in turn, often leads to blind hatred. Sadly, this blind hatred has become ingrained in the culture of being a Blue for too many of them now. It's become part of their sense of self.
It's actually tragic seeing so many of them disappear up the arsehole of self-pity, and it's such a shame that their much vaunted class and dignity seems to desert them so regularly these days.
